Kicking Off the 2019 Harvest Season!

We are beyond excited to kick of the 2019 Harvest Season in Central Illinois! A wet spring pushed back the start date for all central Illinois farmers but we have been working hard the past week to make up for the late start. Check out some of our amazing pictures of the Harvest 2019 Season below and stay tune for more updates

Dan, Sadie, Jason & Benson

Eli & Joey

Benson & Blake

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McKay Farms completes successful Harvest 2018

Harvest 2018 is complete bringing a bountiful harvest to McKay Farms in Beecher City, Illinois. The 2018 Harvest produced the highest yields and took many helping hands to complete. We were fortunate to capture the wonderful harvest season with many photographs and hope to share with you our moments over the upcoming months. We will continue to work on fall tillage before the heavy rains come in the upcoming weeks.

Soybean Harvest

Jason and Dan McKay in deep discussion

Dumping Corn at McKay Farms

Rita McKay and her grandchildren enjoying Fall 

McKay Farms at Grain Elevator in Cowden

McKay Farms begin Harvest 2018 in Beecher City

Harvest started in the middle of September and has brought us great yields and exciting memories. That #Harvest18 season has experienced wonderful weather outside of today which resulted in 1-3 inches of rain in the area. Blake McKay has been busy with the drone capturing some unbelievable aeriel shots that could not have been accomplished without new technologies. Check out the pictures below and expect many more pictures to be published soon. Happy Harvest!!

Thumbs up to Harvest Season

Benson enjoying combine ride

Jason McKay standing on Semi

Joey and Benson

#Plant18 complete for McKay Farms in Central Illinois

McKay Farms has successfully completed their corn and soybean #plant18 season. The delayed start was due to a colder than normal Spring but temperatures warmed up quickly, especially in the last week. We are blessed to complete the planting season with only a couple breakdowns and a few flat tires. Most of our corn has emerged and is looking great. Check out our pictures below of our 2018 Planting Season!

Jason McKay & Dan McKay #Plant18

McKay Farms, Beecher City, Illinois

Darin McKay disking field outside Cowden, IL

Check us out at McKayFarms.com

Corn emerging & Looking great!

Tyler McKay farming in Central Illinois 

Corn #Plant18 is complete for McKay Farms!

We successfully planted all of our corn for the 2018 season as of May 2nd. We were lucky enough to have only a few minor breakdowns and a couple flat tires during the corn planting season. We will be taking the next couple days off due to the rain showers but hope to continue with beans as soon as possible. Check out some pictures of the corn planting season.

Dan McKay planting corn

Blake McKay with field cultivator

Benson McKay on tractor ride

McKay Farms complete with 2017 Soybean Harvest

Dry weather conditions allowed us to work non-stop during the last 2 weeks. We were able to successfully finish soybean harvest and begin shelling corn. We have nearly 200 acres of corn complete but will have to take the weekend off due the the recent rain showers. Check out our pics of #harvest17.

Tyler & Dan McKay

Great Weather leads to successful Corn Planting Season

Five perfect days of weather has led to the successful season of corn planting for McKay Farms. We have made the switch now to soybeans and continue to work early mornings and late nights.We expect this week to bring us rain so it was great to finish corn so early in the season. Check out the picture above where Dan McKay is using the seed tinder to load up the corn planter as Rita McKay delivers lunch for the day.

McKay Farms begins #Plant17 on April 19th

For the second consecutive year, McKay Farms begins the Planting Season on April 19th. An extremely mild February followed by a wet spring delayed the early planting season. We are excited to be back at work with over 100 acres planted in the first full day. 

National Farm Machinery Show held in Louisville, KY

The 52nd National Farm Machinery Show and America's largest indoor farm show is being held in Louisville, Kentucky. Dan and Rita McKay attended the show to learn about the latest equipment, technologies and best practices. Do not forget to save the date for the Farm Progress Show 2017 held August 29-31 in Decatur, Illinois.

Preparations begin for 2017 Farming Season

As the snow melts away in Central Illinois, McKay Farms is preparing for another successful Farming Season. We have a lot of work to get accomplished before planting time including the cleaning of 11 grain bins. Grain is currently being hauled away and before we know it, we will be beginning #Spring17.We can't wait!

McKay Homestead 2017

Top 3 Photos from #Harvest16

We would like to share our top 3 most popular photos from #Harvest16. After hundreds of hours of hard work and dedication, we are blessed to finish another bountiful harvest.

#3  A grey scale photo of beautiful corn stalks with huge clouds in background.

# 2  Dan McKay, hardest worker of the family using our brand new hopper bottom dumping into bins at home.

#1  Three generations of McKay Farms with Baby Benson experiencing his first Harvest season and Benson McKay greatly enjoyed a ride in the combine from his father Jason.

Great Start to Harvest 2016

The weather has been perfect over the past week allowing the family to begin operations on Harvest 2016. A busy and successful week of over 250 acres of corn shelled and contributions from the entire family. We will have a lot of pictures to share over the next coming weeks as Harvest season is here!

Cash rent changes for 2016

(Source: University of Illinois) Cash rents on professionally managed farmland likely will decrease for the 2016 cropping year. Rents on non-professionally managed farmland likely will decrease as well. However, projected rent decreases are not large enough to cause farmers to have positive returns in 2016 given current projections of commodity prices and costs. The lagged relationship between returns and cash rents still exists.

Each year, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers conducts a survey of its membership. In this survey, managers are asked the cash rent for the current year and expectations for next year. This survey provides a good indicator of rents on professionally managed farmland. Managers give averages and expectations for four classes of farmland productivity:

• Excellent - expected corn yields over 190 bushels per acre
• Good - Expected corn yields between 170 and 190 bushels per acre
• Averages - expected corn yields between 150 and 170 bushels per acre
• Fair - expected corn yields less than 150 bushels per acre

For excellent quality farmland, the average cash rent on professionally managed farmland was $374 per acre in 2014. Cash rents decreased to $350 per acre in 2015. Current expectations are for cash rents to continue the decrease in 2016. Expected rent in 2016 is $318 per acre, a $32 decrease from the 2015 level. Similar decreases are projected for all land classes:

• Good quality farmland: a $28 per acre decrease to $267 per acre
• Average quality farmland: a $31 decrease to $219 per acre
• Fair quality farmland: a $23 decrease to $177 per acre

These professionally managed cash rents typically are higher than "average" cash rents, which include all farmland, the majority of which that is not professionally managed. In 2014, for example, excellent productivity farmland had an average cash rent of $293 per acre, $81 less than the $374 per acre for professionally managed farmland. While $293 per acre is the average, there is a large range in rents, with some rents considerably below average, just as there are rents above average.

Harvest 2015 is Complete!

Nearly perfect weather throughout the months of September and October has allowed Harvest 2015 to finished at a record pace on October 3rd, 2015. Dan McKay and his sons worked day and night until the job was complete. We have to thank God for safety during the harvest season and for the beautiful weather to help deliver another successful harvest.

Working through the night

Jason McKay overlooking last load of corn for Harvest 2015